retrieval failure Flashcards
What is retrieval failure?
Forgetting when we don’t have cues to access memory
What is the encoding specificity principle?
Cue must be present at coding and retrieval
If cues are different there will be some forgetting
What are two types of forgetting (retrieval failure)?
Context dependent
State dependent
Who researched context dependent forgetting?
Godden and Baddeley
Describe Godden and Baddeley’s research
Divers learnt words either on land or underwater
Asked to recall on land or underwater
Recall 40% lower in non matching conditions
Who researched state dependent forgetting?
Carter and Cassaday
Describe Carter and Cassaday’s research
Gave antihistamines to pps Mild sedative effect Learn on or off drug Recall on or off drug Performance on memory test was worse in mismatching conditions
Evaluation - supportive evidence
Eysenck argues retrieval failure main reason for LTM forgetting
Valid explanation
Evaluation - questioning context effects
Baddeley argues context effects are not that strong
Contexts must be very different
Evaluation - recall versus recognition
Context effect may be related to kind of memory
Replicated underwater study with pps saying whether they recognised a word
Performance the same in each condition
Evaluation - problems with ESP
ESP cannot be tested
If cue produces recall, must have been encoded
If cue doesn’t, mustn’t have been encoded
Just assumptions
Evaluation - real life applications
Go into a different room and forget what you’re going to do
Cognitive interview
